CRIME in rural areas could be dropping because of the foot and mouth epidemic, according to a senior Ryedale police officer.

Community officer Terry Triffitt says all indications are that crime in rural areas has waned since the foot and mouth outbreak.

"Obviously we will have to wait until the actual crime figures are released but there has been a noticeable decline in the number of reported incidents," he said.

"Country Watch, which is operated by a number of young farmers and which acts as a kind of Neighbourhood Watch for the countryside, has been active in bringing crime figures down anyway.

"But since the foot and mouth crisis came about, it seems it has gone down even further."

PC Triffitt offered two suggestions for this trend, the first being the closure of footpaths.

"Many footpaths are closed to limit the spread of the disease and I think whereas before burglars could use these to stake out a rural building, they are now unable to do this," he said.

"Another reason might be that farmers are staying at home more often because they don't want to spread the disease.

"They will also be extra vigilant at this time because they will be looking out for people straying on to their land."

North Yorkshire NFU spokesman Rob Simpson said a reduction in crime was a natural result of the current epidemic.

"It does seem obvious that this would be a by-product of the disease - it is perhaps the only positive thing through all this," he said.

One of nine new cases confirmed yesterday was at Home Farm, Catterick, North Yorkshire, half a mile from the home of Conservative Party leader William Hague, who described the case as "a real tragedy".

Mr Hague said: "This is a favourite time of year for everyone who lives here, seeing the lambs playing in the fields, and tomorrow they will be dead, which is awful."

A controversial pyre to dispose of thousands of carcasses in Devon was blazing today, after the bodies of culled animals were left rotting in the open air for weeks.

Operations at the incineration site, near Holsworthy, began last night as concern grew about the public health dangers of the burning of hundreds of thousands of carcasses across the country.

Department of Environment (DETR) officials confirmed yesterday that fires lit during the first six weeks of the foot and mouth crisis had released some 63g of cancer-causing dioxins into the atmosphere - 18 per cent of the UK's average annual emissions.

But Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon insisted that studies showed the dioxin releases were "the equivalent of two Bonfire Nights".

The Department of Health last night said that an assessment of the public health implications of the pyres would be released "imminently". North Cumbria Health Authority has barred the use of mass burnings in the area until the assessment is produced.

Residents living near the pyre at Arscott Farm in north Devon, had expressed fears that it would send clouds of noxious smoke over the town of Holsworthy, a mile away.

Friends of the Earth yesterday called for an end to the use of pyres.

Spokesman Mike Childs said: "Farmers are faced with a dreadful double whammy. Not only might they lose their livestock because of foot and mouth, but they may also find their farms heavily contaminated and unusable because of the toxic effects of dioxins."

Meanwhile, work was continuing on the construction of a vast burial site for up to 432,000 animal carcasses at Ash Moor, near Petrockstow, Devon.

Updated: 12:13 Monday, April 23, 2001